LaDarius Perkins Hopes for Big Senior Year with Mississippi State Bulldogs

By Tim Letcher

Spruce Derden, USA TODAY SPORTS

LaDarius Perkins has already had an outstanding career for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Now, Perkins would like to do something special during his senior season that might result in the Bulldogs taking that big step toward competing in the brutally tough Southeastern Conference Western Division.

Perkins, who is listed at 5-10 and 190 pounds, came to Starkville from St. Joseph High School in Greenville, Miss. As a senior in high school, he was rated among the 50 best all-purpose backs in the country by Rivals.com.

Despite those outstanding credentials, when Perkins got to campus, he was clearly behind Vick Ballard, one of the best running backs in the history of the Mississippi State program. Therefore, Perkins redshirted during the 2009 season.

In 2010, Ballard was back, and he got the most carries from the running back position, but Perkins saw plenty of action. In fact, Perkins rushed 101 times for 566 yards and three touchdowns during his redshirt freshman season.

During his sophomore season, Perkins saw his carries fall to 87 as Ballard was fully healthy and putting up big numbers. Perkins was able to rush for 422 yards and a pair of scores in 13 games.

As a junior in 2012, Perkins was finally the featured back, and he took full advantage of the situation. Perkins rushed 205 times for 1,024 yards and eight touchdowns. He also caught 19 passes for 160 yards and two more scores.

Now a senior, Perkins will once again be the featured back and will form a nice backfield tandem with senior quarterback Tyler Russell. Those two players will be the anchors of the offense for head coach Dan Mullen.

Both Perkins and Russell have had nice careers, but both will need to step up their games in 2013 to help Mississippi State battle another tough schedule.